Labour is going into the city council elections with its most diverse line-up of candidates ever fielded in Hull.The party has been in charge at the Guildhall since 2011 but is arguably facing its biggest challenge since then with the all-out election on May 3.

Traditionally, a third of the seats on the council are contested every 12 months but this year every seat is up for grabs as a result of a review of ward boundaries across the city.

Almost half of Labour’s full slate of 57 candidates are women and a quarter are aged under 40.The party is also being represented by its highest ever number of black, Asian and minority ethnic candidates standing in an election in Hull.

Labour is currently the ruling party at the GuildhallLabour group secretary Councillor Chris Sumpton said: “We are all very pleased and proud to offer such a diverse and broad selection of Labour candidates who all want to do their best to improve the city they love and help the people who live and work here.

“On May 3 residents have the chance to vote for all seats on the council in an all-out

“It is important to maintain the momentum of improvement across all our communities that Labour has been delivering.

“I hope our candidates get the support they need to drive our city to greater success.”

The Boundary Commission for England has agreed that Hull will likely reduce to 57 Councillors in 2018 from the current 59. A New map will be required for the City and initial consultations end on the 31st October 2016. If you want to have your say:-

Hull City Council’s Labour Group unveiled the candidates that it hopes will keep the City Labour controlled after the May 5th 2016 elections. Labour have 40 seats currently and are defending 11 of the 20 seats up for grabs. With the Greens failing to get their nomination papers in the election is a straight fight between Labour as a left-wing Party and three political parties of the right-wing; the Tories, their second eleven and ex Government cronies the Lib Dems, or UKIP.

Labour in Hull has had to make some very tough decisions over the past four years as the Coalition Government has continued to strip essential funding away from this city.

By 2015, this council will have had its Government grant funding reduced by £48m, which equates to 10p in every £1 in 2014/15 and a further 15p in every £1 in 2015/16. The city’s tight boundary means that we are restricted in how we can generate revenue from businesses who are, and want to develop here. The effects of continued cuts to central funding in Hull is more damaging than for Councils with a far greater Council and Business Tax income. This is why we want to expand this city’s potential to draw in greater locally generated funding and why we have been calling for a Combined Authority in this area, which can attract greater growth, jobs, investment and funding.

The services people depend on have always been our top priority but because of Government imposed cuts, we have had to reduce some of the things we do and deliver other services differently and this looks set to continue. The people we employ have accepted reduced terms and conditions as part of this and some have and will choose to leave the council because of these continued funding cuts.

Hull has been targeted for excessive cuts since 2010 and the Tory/Lib Dem Autumn Statement, fully supported and co-authored by the Lib Dems, has made it clear that they intend to make even greater cuts if they remain in power nationally. Labour in Hull will not be passive observers to managed the decline of this city. We have made bold decisions that have secured huge amounts of inward investment and we will continue to build for a better future. No other party has this vision and commitment for the people of Hull.

Councillor Stephen Brady

Leader Hull Labour Group

BUILDING ON LABOUR ACHIEVEMENTS

The 2015 local elections in Hull come in conjunction with the General Election. The decisions made at the ballot box this year will have implications for years to come. We have suffered disproportionate and unfair funding cuts which have been part of a deliberate attack on northern, Labour councils.However, Labour in Hull have taken bold and decisive steps to weather this Tory-Lib Dem Coalition storm.Labour has looked to Europe for jobs and growth because the economic decisions of the current government are only growing zero-hours contracts in low paid jobs with no security. 90% of the jobs generated under the Coalition since 2010 have been in London. When they claim the recession is over they mean ‘in London’, not here. Only the Labour led Council has invested to grow our economy now and for the future.

Our vision was to push for improvements to the city via road and rail links, which benefit the potential of our city to attract investment and therefore jobs and business. In driving this forward, we have worked in partnership, locally and regionally, with many who shared this ambition and at last, Hull and the region will benefit from a huge investment to ensure that linkages to our port and the developments around it mean better and faster transportation of goods. It will also allow the city centre to be better linked to the riverfront, allowing everyone to enjoy and benefit from the potential to develop business and recreation as our city grows and flourishes.

Hull needs these developments because we have been in the shadows for too long, ignored by national and regional plans, and not understood by central government. Our decision to go for City of Culture 2017 marked our view that it was time to raise our profile, celebrate our culture and heritage, and share our uniqueness with the world. This is about ‘doing it for ourselves’, and not relying on anyone else to do it for us. After decades of high unemployment, we now have the potential to ‘take off’ economically and 2017 will shine a light on Hull and reveal that potential to the world.

The elections in 2015 will be a referendum on jobs and services. If the Liberal Democrats start to regain seats, our city’s potential will be dulled. They will waste more public money on pointless, procedural ‘Call-in’s’ aimed at giving themselves a platform from which to talk down the city. They will call more extraordinary Council meetings to ‘debate’ meaningless, outmoded and ill-informed motions.

We must remember that the Lib Dems welcomed the local council funding cuts in 2010 but have tried to blame Labour for the consequences of them. Nick Clegg has stated that he is proud of the Chancellors Autumn Statement which will see further public spending cuts of £65.5 billions, with possibly another million public sector job losses. Nick Clegg supports the Tories in lowering public spending to the levels of the 1930’s. UKIP would go even further.

As the Lib Dems have withered as a party and the Tories have revealed that they are the same old ‘Nasty Party’, UKIP has dressed themselves up as the party of ordinary people. They are not. They represent the ambitions of the most wealthy and powerful to role back all the advances in our society that defend and protect working people and the values of a decent and just society as well.

Labour’s ideas are a bold statement about Hull and its potential both as an economic powerhouse and a great place to live and enjoy. Hull can be both, it is already recognised as a top place to live and one of the ‘coolest’ places to visit and stay.

THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS TRACK RECORD IN HULL

To understand why the Lib Dems should never be allowed to wield power inHullyou need only look at what they did when they did. When Labour regained control of Hull City Council in 2011, we inherited a council that had failed to deliver and had welcomed the cuts to council and voluntary sector funding imposed by the Tory-led Coalition Government.

Despite year-on-year increases in funding from the previous Labour Government, the Lib Dems inHullhad already started making cuts before the General Election of 2010. After selling-out in 2010 by aligning themselves with the Tories the local Lib Dems relished their chance to accelerate the cuts.

Between 2006 and 2011, the Lib Dems embarked on a programme of cuts and closures that could have come out of any Tory Party Manifesto of the last 30 years. It was no surprise to us in Hull that they could so easily go into coalition with the Tories nationally in 2011. They:

oAbolished FreeHealthySchool Meals in Hull but then supported a Tory proposal to introduce free school meals nationally.

oAbandoned Labours Subsidised Healthy Meals on Wheels Scheme and privatised it to a company that delivers microwave TV dinners.

oClosed two Older Peoples’ Residential Homes and planned to close Day Centres.

oSquandered £7m of Labour Government money aimed at flood relief and prevention on a ‘Transformation Programme’ that did not save anything.

oCut funding to community groups and Voluntary Sector service providers without consultation.

oPlanned Local Economic Partnership, (LEP), based on tourism, even though their own Government Minister opposed it.

oCut all funding to the ‘Connexions’ careers advice service to young people at a time when youth unemployment in Hull was one of the highest in the country.

oWasted £104m Capital money raised by the second KC shares sell off for no gain.

In opposition, in Hull, they have fully supported the coalition government and its austerity cuts, which have hit so many people so hard while pointing the finger at everyone else. They are in denial about their role in Government, which is why so many have turned their backs on them here.

LABOUR’S AMBITIONS FOR HULL

JOBS AND GROWTH

By being a British city that is part of Europe, acting as a partner and welcoming new technology we have seen a massive investment in our future from the largest green renewable energy manufacturer in the world, Siemens. UKIP not only opposed the technology but also said that Siemens were not welcome here.It has also taken huge efforts to ensure the Tories did not scupper the development by being indecisive over their energy policy, which still relies heavily on fossil fuels in the future through the concerning and dubious use of ‘fracking’.

The decisions taken by Labour in Hull since 2011 have helped shape a future that focused on jobs and skills growth in this area. In 2011, Labour dismissed the Lib Dem plans for a LEP based on tourism in partnership with Scarborough.Instead, we favoured a Pan-Humber LEP based on attracting large-scale manufacturing, utilising the unique geographical position of the Humber Region to Europe, maximising the potential of the growing demand for offshore renewable energy generation and greater trade with our European partners.

Labour committed £5m for infrastructure changes to help secure the Siemens investment through the Councils City Plan. In the budget debate in February 2014, prior to the Siemens announcement, the Lib Dems proposed to remove this money. That would have had disastrous consequences for the city and the region.

Only the Lib Dems would favour an economy built solely on tourism when the chance of long-term manufacturing jobs was on the horizon and we could have a strong tourism pull as well because of the successful City of Culture 2017 bid, built on our strong cultural offer anyway. Only UKIP would turn their backs on generations of jobs and prosperity for Hull people because of outmoded beliefs and ignorance.

Labour will:

Work to build the local economy with our partners, new and old, with the vision of creating 7,000 new, secure, high quality jobs within 10 years.

Work to ensure that high quality skills training is ingrained in the local education and training sector to ensure these new jobs go to local people, now and in the future.

Labour has worked to secure jobs and growth in Hull and will continue to do so, strengthening the local economy, despite government cuts and policy.

HOUSING

The previous Labour Government invested hundreds of millions of pounds in Gateway Pathfinder to help regenerate areas inHull. In 2010, the Tory-led Coalition cancelled these projects leaving residents high and dry and areas blighted. Since then, Labour has worked tirelessly with council officers and through the LEP to secure pockets of funding to regenerate areas and to build properties. While these schemes are in no way as extensive as those taken away by the Coalition Government, they are welcomed and much needed. Hull City Council will again build new council houses alongside other new properties and developments.

Despite the Government dramatically reducing the Council’s funding for housing services Labour has managed to allocate £75m funding to support several housing schemes in the City, which will help to deliver long term regeneration across the city and also help to fund the building of new housing in areas like Orchard Park and Newington and St. Andrew’s.

Although the Government is determined to put a strangle hold on local government through draconian cuts to funding, Labour has protected services provided to residents by being innovative and making the most of the limited funding available.

This Labour Council has managed to deliver regeneration on a more modest scale, such as ECO funding, (before the Government halted this last year), which breathed new life into Holland, Airlie and Albermarle Streets and by the completion of regeneration schemes, like on Ings. We will continue to look for funding for both private and public schemes alike because good housing is a key regenerator.

By working in partnership with the private and social rented sectors, we will always seek to maximise available funding.

Our efforts mean that projected funding represents an estimated £500m of spending on housing inHullover the next five years.

Labour will:

Work in partnership to generate funding and access all; available funding to build affordable housing in Hull.

Build new Council Houses in Hull and work with the private and social rented sector to grow the housing choice in Hull.

Labour will work to protect public housing and to ensure Hull is included in all future house building programmes.

TRANSPORT

The last Labour Government gave a huge boost to people aged over 60 and those with disabilities and serious illnesses by introducing free off peak travel. InHull, Labour went one better, further making buses travel free at all times, not just off peak.

Labour, locally and with our MPs, lobbied hard for the reduction in theHumberBridgetolls as part of joining up theHumberregion economically. Labour also successfully lobbied hard for the Government to provide essential funding to improve the A63 for businesses and residents and build a better linkage between the city centre and the riverfront forHullresidents

Labour will:

Continue to lobby for transport improvements to be delivered in time to make the best from the manufacturing investment we face as a city and region, maximising the potential to grow jobs and success for the residents of Hull and the whole economic region.

Labour understands the importance of safe, reliable, transport across communities and the role efficient transportation has in growing businesses and jobs.

HEALTH

Hullstill has very high levels of childhood and adult obesity. Combined with other health issues, people inHulldie younger than they should.

In 2004, Labour introduced the Free Healthy Primary School Meals Pilot, which was evaluated byHullUniversity. This pilot was a resounding success in terms of tackling obesity, improving attainment at school as well as actual attendance. The Lib Dems stopped this inHull, reintroducing charges and then increasing them twice before losing power in 2011. Then after sabotaging our health free meals scheme inHull, they welcomed the idea of free primary school meals nationally. In power, Labour negotiated with school Head teachers to reduce the cost from £1.50 a £1 per meal in 2011 and has continued to work with the Health Service locally to offer a further reduction to 50p per meal in primary schools.

Labour also believes that the Coalition have let down thousands of children who attend academies and free schools by allowing these types of schools to provide any food they wish and not meet minimum health standards. Only the two-faced Lib Dems could end a successful health school meals project inHulland then about face to support the proposal of free school meals nationally.

Labour Will:

Work pro-actively and innovatively with all our partners, such as the Care Commissioning Group through our Health and Wellbeing Board, to improve the health of Hull residents now and in the future.

Work and lobby to improve the quality of school meals and to bring back properly funded free primary school meals.

Promote Healthy Lifestyles by ensuring affordable, high quality and accountable leisure facilities that can be accessed as widely as possible.

Support local sports teams and clubs to mentor and engage communities with fitness programmes.

Maintain free peak time bus travel in Hull and the region for pensioners and people with serious illnesses or disabilities.

Labour will deliver these commitments to benefit all sections of our community and to ensure a brighter, healthier future for the people of Hull.

EDUCATION

The previous Labour Government put a Children’s Centre or Surestart within walking distance of every community. The Tory-led Coalition Government have cut funding to these local services but locally Labour has worked hard to support them as best we can. If the Tory’s form the next Government the funding for Children’s Centres will go altogether.Hull’s Labour Council worked with the previous Labour Government to secure £420m to revamp every secondary and special school inHull. Our success is there to see and our children will be better equipped to benefit from the growth in local jobs our other commitments will generate as a result.

In 2011, Labour put funding back in to the City Music Service, which had been cut by the Lib Dems. This much-valued service continues to do excellent work with young people in the city.

Labour has also provided funding to reduce the cost of primary school meals, helping to support families and ensure children get a hot school meal, which will help them achieve and attain at school. Nationally, the Coalition has presided over an ideological attack on education and teachers, putting unqualified people in charge of delivering essential education to our children.

Labour Will:

Work to secure support for our children’s centres.

Use available funding wisely and innovatively to ensure the continuation of libraries and expand the services available from them such as Internet Access.

Lobby for greater funding to secure the future of Libraries in Hull.

Continue to fund the City Music Service.

Continue to subsidise primary school meals and work to reduce the cost further, so children can access a healthy, hot school meal.

Work with our partners to ensure the education package provided meets local and national needs.

Labour will work with our partners in education to ensure that our children’s education is high quality and meets the needs of people now and in the future.

YOUNG PEOPLE

Labour delivered a raft of measures to improve the lives of children, from lifting children out of poverty to providing Free Healthy Primary School Meals that resulted in direct health improvements, improvements in school attendance and educational attainment. The vision Labour had when it delivered free healthy school meals a decade ago has now become national government policy. Those in the Lib Dems who abolished our scheme here now support it being rolled out nationally, what a pity they could not have shown the same commitment to the people of Hull a decade ago. If they had, a generation of children would already have reaped the benefits highlighted in the evaluation report of the scheme that the Lib Dems ignored and tried to suppress.

Since 2010, youth unemployment has blighted the country, especially in the north. The Coalition has axed funding to support services, local councils, abolished the Education Maintenance Allowance; (EMA); that enabled young people to engage with education and skills training; and to trebled university tuition fees – putting university beyond the reach of many and committing young people to a start burdened with crippling debt.

In terms of apprenticeships, the Coalition has invested unwisely by creating a massive expansion of low quality qualifications that are not recognised across the world and not valued by many employers in the UK. While the Tories and the Lib Dems quote the ‘quantity’ of these schemes, 75% of them have no training element, most are for only six months and do not go to school leavers but to existing employees in low paid work. The majority of people receiving these low quality courses are aged 25 or over.

This is the politics of ‘Never mind the quality, feel the width!”, and it is unacceptable and insulting. While young people from our EU neighbours can benefit from jobs growth across the EU, young people here are stuck in low paid, low skilled and insecure jobs thanks to an investment in low quality qualifications aimed at allowing politicians to claim credit for expanding apprenticeships. We can do better!

Young people deserve to be listened to and to get high quality guidance, direction, help and support to reach their potential and be involved in society rather than just observers of it or hostile to it because they are excluded. This is why Labour, in 2011, restored funding to the local ‘Connexions’ careers advice service which the previous Lib Dem Cabinet has axed.We all have a responsibility in this as parents, teachers, and members of a community as do the young people themselves.

Labour Will:

oCall for real investment in high quality, Level 3 apprenticeships, which will equip our young people with the training, and skills they need to find and keep a quality job.

oInsist that businesses we procure services from also invest in high quality apprenticeships

oDevelop more apprenticeships within the Council and call upon local businesses to do the same.

oWork with our partners to make sure the council listens to young people when developing services and support.

Labour is delivering for young people, engaging young people and helping them reach their true potential.

OLDER PEOPLE

The previous Labour Government lifted many older people out of poverty with Pension Tax Credits and Winter Fuel Payments. Labour’s All Day Free Travel in Hull has helped older people to remain connected to friends and loved ones in the city and region especially as the ‘Cost of Living Crisis’ has meant less money for most people. Nationally this scheme is under threat and likely to disappear after the 2015 election if Labour do not win.

Labour Will:

Work to protect Winter Fuel Payments.

Work to maintain free peak time bus travel in Hull and the region for people aged over 60 and the chronically sick or disabled.

Work to retain a network of high quality locally accountable and responsive homes and day centres, ensuring access to respite and care when needed.

Continue to consult with the Better Government for Older People representatives and represents their views in Cabinet.

Labour has worked locally and nationally to lift older people out of poverty and improve lifestyles and opportunity and will continue to value the input of older people in our society.

ROADS AND PAVEMENTS

The previous Lib Dem Council spent £7 million of Flood Relief money given toHullby the previous Labour Government on a failed ‘Transformation Programme’, which did not make any actual savings. They din not do anything to prevent flooding, which happened again in December 2013. In addition, they had over £104m in Capital reserves yet our roads and pavements crumbled around us while they just pointed at potholes.

At the same time, they also failed to spend their own road and pavement repairs budget. Given the state of our roads, this mismanagement is scandalous.

Since 2011, Labour has programmed our much-reduced budget to spend the available money on these essential repairs. The money allocated has been used in full, each year. The response from the Lib Dems has been to criticise the road repairs they should have been delivering when in power.

Labour will:-

Continue to plan effectively the delivery of road and pavement repairs within the allocated budget in full.

Lobby for increased funding to repair and maintain our roads and pavements.

Labour has a long and proud record of supporting sport and providing high quality leisure facilities in this city.

When Labour was in charge of the council, we built the KC Stadium, which helped springboardHullCity’s revival and is the home of a Premiership Football Club and a Super League Rugby League Team. The Lib Dems opposed this investment but, as usual, took the credit when it opened.

Labour also invested in developing both rugby league clubs inHull, helping them to secure their futures. Most recently, the Council funded a new stand atCravenPark, increasing capacity and quality.

Labour decided to bid for ‘City of Culture 2017’ following the failed bid by the previous Lib Dem led Council. This was part of the long-term vision held by Labour and was initially not supported by senior officers. The decision proved to be the right thing to do and galvanised the city to display its uniqueness, current offer our potential. In contrast, the Lib Dems failed in their bid to be City ofCultureand during the budget debate in February 2014, tried to sabotage the City of Culture 2017 by pulling the funding because they believed it was developing “too fast”.

Labour has also had to review leisure and cultural services because of the eye-watering cuts to council funding imposed by the Coalition Government, which will amount to over £160m by 2018. This review included looking at the future of the range of swimming provision across the city and led to the development of a partnership funding arrangement with the local NHS to maintain the pools at Ennerdale Leisure Centre. Such arrangements represent a short-term fix to a long-term and deep funding crisis caused by Tory/Lib Dem Coalition Government. Labour will re-shape how these essential services are delivered while keeping local accountability. Labour will also deliver modern leisure facilities that meet local need in Hullinto the 21st Century. This is an example of Labour’s commitment to not stand by and allow the ‘Managed decline of the city and its services’.

Labour will:

Continue to work with key partners locally, regionally and nationally in building for 2017 and maximise the economic status, cultural potential and legacy that UK City of Culture 2017 represents.

Labour will deliver innovative and effective ways to develop and deliver accountable leisure services for generations to come as part of a ‘KWL style’ Council wholly owned Company.

Labour has delivered on maintaining and developing local services despite swingeing government cuts. Labour will continue to put the needs of local Hull people first.

COMMUNITY, ENVIRONMENT AND SAFETY

In 2011, the Lib Dems axed £982,000 from Streetcare Services, which resulted in a third of the workforce leaving the Council. As a result, green areas suffered across the city. By the time Labour came to power in 2011, these workers had already gone and could not be replaced. This did not stop the Lib Dems trying to blame Labour when areas became overgrown.

The Lib Dems sided with the Tories on the Crime and Policing Panel in refusing funding for Police Officers. It is no coincidence that Hull now has the lowest Policing levels since the 1980’s and for the first time in over 10 years crime rose in the city.

Labour has delivered on increasing the amount of domestic waste diverted from landfill to over 64%. In addition, recycling and composting levels have risen from to over 53%.

All of these things impact on our communities and general wellbeing and Labour has made a significant difference where we can and argued to defend community safety against Lib Dem and Tory attacks.

Labour has opened a ‘grown-up debate’ about the boundary of the city, which excludes suburbs that are naturally conjoined to the city and who look to the city as their centre. It has been the case, for too long, that the Council Tax payers ofHullhave solely funded the commercial, retail, cultural, heritage and leisure offer, which is accessed and utilised by people from all over the East Riding. Hull City Council also contributes to developing jobs and services for local people, not just those who presently live within the restrictedHullboundary. The greater funding opportunities, that having a wider boundary presents is a benefit to everyone who lives and works in Hull and its suburbs and would allow for improved and more accountable local services. However, this alone is not enough. If this city and area is to progress and develop, there has to be unification across authorities on issues such as transport, regeneration, planning and inward investment. This ‘Combined’ approach on these key challenges is essential and long overdue. This approach does not loose identity or control, it grows it and adds more.

Labour Will:

Continue to lobby for a sensible debate about boundaries and joining in a Combined Authority ontransport, regeneration, planning and inward investment.

Work with our Labour partners in the Police and crime Panel to improve policing.

Continue to improve our waste collection, recycling and composting scores so that less goes to landfill, thereby saving money and protecting our environment now and for generations to come.

Your community is not safe with the Lib Dem’s, they sided with the Tories to reduce policing levels.

BUILDING OUR FUTURE

This Tory-led Coalition led us into a double-dip recession and narrowly avoided a triple-dip recession. Their continued support for extreme austerity endangers the economy of this country and across the EU. Prior to 2010 the economy had actually started to recover but the rapid and deep austerity cuts of the Coalition killed off that early recovery and our economy flat-lined for over three years. The longest recession in history, and avoidable. The Tories and the Lib Dems would have us believe that theUKeconomy is now growing due to their measures. In reality, 90% of new jobs are inLondonand most are zero hours, low paid, temporary or part-time. They would have us believe that we are now better off. People inHulldo not see it that way.

The actions of the previous Lib Dem Council by slashing £800,000 from the funding to help start up small and new businesses was just more of the same from a party which in Hull are no more than Tories in drag.

InHull, Labour has shown its’ commitment to attracting jobs and building a future in which people will see hope. The decisions we made in 2011 and since would not have been made by anyone else. The Lib Dems have opposed virtually everything Labour has done. This is a clear measure of why they are not fit to represent the people ofHull. They are a failed and crumbling party.

UKIP pretend to speak for ordinary working people but are made up of multi-millionaires who want a return to a ‘mythical golden age’ that only existed for the super rich. They hate Europe becauseEuropemakes laws that protect people at work or are vulnerable. UKIP claim to be all things to all people but are in fact Tory rejects.

The EU is the largest trading market in the world, bigger even than theUSA. It benefits its members. UKIP would see us left to trade on our own, looking in through the window to see if we can spot a good deal or two for companies owned by rich men making the maximum profit by driving down wages and conditions to 1930’s levels. If UKIP got its’ way there would be no investment in the Green Renewables Sector, Britain would continue to stagger on, completely reliant on dodgy Russian gas, expensive Middle East oil and dangerous UK ‘fracking’.

At the 2015 Elections voters have few choices. The Tories with endless austerity and policies for the rich and powerful, the Lib Dems with no direction, no integrity and no purpose, or UKIP, the Tories ‘B Team’, so right-wing that even most Tories don’t like them.

Or Labour, a party that has helped turn around the future of Hull, that is engaged with our neighbours both here and in Europe and which is determined to grow our economy, jobs, training and to look after people in a caring and responsible society. The choice is simple.

Vote Labour in 2015.

Labour

Working for you to deliver on:-

Jobs and Growth

Housing Transport

Health Education

Young People Older People

Roads and Pavements Sport & Leisure

Community, Environment & Safety Building Our Future

ONLY LABOUR CAN DELIVER ON THESE PLEDGES!

Printed and promoted by Daren Hale, Deputy Leader Of the Labour Group, on behalf of all Hull Labour Party Candidates, all at: 216 Victoria Avenue, Hull.

Welcome to our manifesto for the local elections in 2014. Labour in Hull has had to make some very tough decisions over the last three years as the Coalition Government has continued to strip essential funding away from Hull.

In the next two years, this council will have had its Government grant funding reduced by an additional £48m. This equates to 10p in every £1 we spent this year, (2014/15) and a proposed further 15p reduction in every £1 for the year after, (2015/16). As the Government grant makes up a far greater proportion of what this Council spends, the effect of such a cut our funding is all the more dramatic than for Councils with a far greater Council Tax income.

The services people depend on have remained our top priority but we have had to cut our cloth accordingly. Maintaining high quality local services has meant we have had to reduce some of the things we do and deliver other services differently. Our staff have accepted reduced terms and conditions as part of this and some will choose to leave the council altogether over the coming months because of the continued funding cuts from central government.

Labour Councils, predominantly in the North, have been targeted for deeper cuts since 2010 and the intention is clear, however, Labour in Hull will not stand by and allow the managed decline of this city. We have made bold decisions that have secured huge amounts of inward investment and we will continue to build for a better future. This is what Labour promised when we regained control in 2011 and this remains our promise now.

Councillor Stephen Brady

Leader Hull Labour Group

BUILDING ON LABOUR ACHIEVEMENTS

The 2014 local elections in Hull come in conjunction with the European Parliament Elections and one year ahead of the General Election. The decisions made at the ballot box this year will have implications for years to come. In Europe we can remain on the periphery, offering cynical political jibes, stoking suspicion and fear as has been the case under the Tories and their ‘B Team’ UKIP, or we can take a centre ground position and start making Europe work for us once more. The truth is that we are better off in the largest single market in the world than trying to negotiate trade deals outside it. Recent developments in Hull have proved this beyond doubt. If Hull is to weather the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition storm it must look to Europe for jobs and growth because the economic decisions of the current government are only growing zero-hours contracts in low paid jobs with no security.

Part of Labour’s vision was also to drive forward on improving access to the city via road links, which would also benefit the potential of our river-frontage for the people of Hull. In driving this forward, we worked in partnership, locally and regionally, with many who shared this ambition and at last, Hull and the region will benefit from a huge investment to ensure that linkages to our port and the developments around it will mean better and faster transportation of goods. It will also allow the city centre to be linked better to the riverfront, allowing everyone to enjoy and benefit from the potential to develop business and recreation as our city grows and flourishes.

Hull needs these developments because we have been in the shadows for too long, ignored by national and regional plans, and not understood by central government. Our decision to go for City of Culture 2017 marked our view that it was time to raise our profile, celebrate our culture and heritage, and share our uniqueness with the world. This is about ‘doing it for ourselves’, and not relying on anyone else to do it for us anymore. After decades of high unemployment, there is a potential to start ‘taking off’ economically and 2017 will shine a light on Hull and reveal that potential to the world.

The elections in 2014 and 2015 will be a referendum on jobs and services. If the Liberal Democrats start to regain seats our city’s potential will be dulled. They will waste more public money on pointless, procedural ‘Call-in’s’ aimed at giving themselves a platform from which to talk down the city. They will call more extraordinary Council meetings to ‘debate’ meaningless, motions congratulating themselves and pandering to the Tories. The Lib Dems welcomed the cuts to local council funding in 2010 but have opposed the impact of the ‘Cost of Democracy’, which has forced the council to reduce the length and frequency of Council Meetings. Faced with a reduction in ‘airtime’ both opposition parties, the Tories and the Lib Dems have behaved like spoilt children being denied a sweet. They have used the constitution to circumvent the funding cuts they welcomed. Clearly, the cuts were meant for everyone else, not them! Likewise, if UKIP gain ground electorally what message does this send to potential investors from Europe who now look towards Hull as a place to build business, factories and grow local jobs?

We want to make a bold statement about Hull and its potential both as an economic powerhouse and a great place to live and enjoy. Hull can be both, it is already recognised as a top place to live and one of the ‘coolest’ places to visit and stay.

THE LIBERAL DEMOCRATS TRACK RECORD IN HULL

To understand why the Lib Dems should never be allowed to wield power inHullyou need only look at what they did when they did. When Labour regained control of Hull City Council in 2011, we inherited a council that had failed to deliver and had welcomed the cuts to council and voluntary sector funding imposed by the Tory-led Coalition Government.

Despite year-on-year increases in funding from the previous Labour Government, the Lib Dems inHullhad already started making cuts before the General Election of 2010. After selling-out in 2010 by aligning themselves with the Tories the local Lib Dems relished their chance to accelerate the cuts.

Between 2006 and 2011, the Lib Dems embarked on a programme of cuts and closures that could have come out of any Tory Party Manifesto of the last 30 years. It was no surprise to us in Hull that they could so easily go into coalition with the Tories nationally in 2011. They:

oAbolished FreeHealthySchool Meals in Hull but last year supported a Tory proposal to introduce free school meals nationally.

oAbandoned Labours Subsidised Healthy Meals on Wheels Scheme and privatised it to a company that delivers microwave TV dinners.

oClosed two Older Peoples’ Residential Homes and planned to close Day Centres.

oSquandered £7m of Labour Government money aimed at flood relief and prevention on a ‘Transformation Programme’ that did not save anything.

oCut funding to community groups and Voluntary Sector service providers without consultation.

oEffectively handed over all policy and decision making to unelected senior officers.

oPursued a Local Economic Partnership, (LEP), based on tourism, even though their own Government Minister opposed it.

oCut all funding to the ‘Connexions’ careers advice service to young people at a time when youth unemployment in Hull was one of the highest in the country.

oFailed to make the savings promised in their 2010/11 budget, which committed these additional cuts to Labours budgets afterwards.

LABOUR’S AMBITIONS FOR HULL

JOBS AND GROWTH

By being a British city that is part of Europe, acting as a partner and welcoming new technology we have seen a massive investment in our future from the largest green renewable energy manufacturer in the world, Siemens. UKIP not only opposed the technology but also said that Siemens were not welcome here.It has also taken huge efforts to ensure the Tories did not scupper the development by being indecisive over their energy policy, which still relies heavily on fossil fuels in the future through the concerning and dubious ‘fracking’.

The decisions taken by Labour in Hull since 2011 have helped shape a future that focused on jobs and skills growth in this area. In 2011, Labour dismissed the Lib Dem plans for a Local Economic Partnership based on tourism and in partnership with Scarborough.Instead, we favoured a Pan-Humber LEP based on attracting large-scale manufacturing, utilising the unique geographical position of the Humber Region to Europe, maximising the potential of the growing demand for offshore renewable energy generation and greater trade with our European partners.

Labour committed £5m to securing infrastructure changes to help secure the Siemens investment through the Councils City Plan. This sent a clear message that the Council was helping to position the city as being open for business and serious about growing our local economy through real support. In the budget debate in February 2014, prior to the Siemens announcement, the Lib Dems proposed removing this money. That would have had disastrous consequences for the city and the region. Only the Lib Dems would favour an economy built solely on tourism when the chance of long-term manufacturing jobs was on the horizon and we could have a strong tourism pull as well because of the successful City of Culture 2017 bid, built on our strong cultural offer anyway.

Labour will:

Work to build the local economy with our partners, new and old, with the vision of creating 7,000 new, secure, high quality jobs within 10 years.

Work to ensure that high quality skills training is ingrained in the local education and training sector to ensure these new jobs go to local people, now and in the future.

Labour has worked to secure jobs and growth in Hull and will continue to do so, strengthening the local economy, despite government cuts and policy.

HOUSING

The previous Labour Government invested hundreds of millions of pounds in Gateway Pathfinder to help regenerate areas inHull. In 2010, the Tory-led Coalition cancelled these projects leaving residents high and dry and areas blighted. Since then, Labour has worked tirelessly with council officers and through the LEP to secure pockets of funding to regenerate areas and to build properties. While these schemes are in no way as extensive as those taken away by the Coalition Government, they are welcomed and much needed. In the near future Hull City Council will again start to build new council houses alongside other new properties

Despite the Government dramatically reducing the Council’s funding for housing services Labour has managed to allocate £75m funding to support several housing schemes in the City, which will help to deliver on the aim of long term regeneration for neighborhoods across the city and also to help to fund the building of new housing in areas like Orchard Park and Newington and St. Andrew’s.

Although the Government is determined to put a strangle hold on local government by imposing draconian cuts to its funding Labour is determined to protect the services provided to its residents by being innovative and making the most of the limited funding available to us.

This Labour Council has managed to establish housing funding sources following the Tory-Lib Dem scrapping of the Gateway regeneration programme. We have sought funding from every available source to keep regeneration moving on a smaller modest scale, such as via the ECO funding, (before the Government recently halted this), which breathed new life into Holland, Airlie and Albermarle Streets, or by the completion of regeneration schemes like on Ings. We will continue to look for funding for both private and public schemes alike as we are convinced good housing remains a key regenerator.

We will supplement the funding in this new budget through borrowing and working in partnership with other housing providers including private developers and housing associations. By working in partnership with the private and social rented sectors, we will help to maximise the funding available.

In addition, we have ensured there will be an allocation of funding for housing inHullas part of the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership’s current bid to the Government’s £2billion Local Growth Fund. Together, the projected funding represents an estimated £500m of spending on housing inHullover the next five years.

Labour will:

Work in partnership to generate funding and access all; available funding to build affordable housing in Hull.

Build new Council Houses in Hull and work with the private and social rented sector to grow the housing choice in Hull.

Labour will work to protect public housing and to ensure Hull is included in all future house building programmes.

TRANSPORT

Our Labour Government gave a huge boost to people aged over 60 and those with disabilities and serious illnesses by introducing free off peak travel. In Hull Labour went one-step further making bus travel free at all times, not just off peak.

Labour, locally and with our MPs, lobbied hard for the reduction in theHumberBridgetolls as part of joining up theHumberregion economically. Labour also successfully lobbied hard for the Government to provide essential funding to improve the A63 for businesses and residents and build a better linkage between the city centre and the riverfront forHullresidents

Labour has worked in partnership to secure rail electrification between Selby andHull, connectingHulltoLondonahead of other projects and in time for 2017.

Labour will:

Continue to lobby for transport improvements to be delivered in time to make the best from the manufacturing investment we face as a city and region, maximising the potential to grow jobs and success for the residents of Hull and the whole economic region.

Labour understands the importance of safe, reliable, transport across communities and the role efficient transportation has in growing businesses and jobs.

HEALTH

Hullstill has very high levels of childhood and adult obesity. Combined with other health issues, people inHulldie younger than they should.

In 2004 Labour introduced the Free, Healthy Primary School Meals Pilot which was evaluated byHullUniversity. This pilot was a resounding success in terms of tackling obesity, improving attainment at school as well as actual attendance. Despite this the Lib Dems ended the scheme and reintroduced meals charges, increasing them twice before losing power in 2011. Labour negotiated with school Head teachers to reduce the cost from £1.50 a £1 per meal in 2011. Last year the Lib Dems nationally supported the proposal by the Coalition government to introduce universal free primary school meals across theUK. If the Lib Dems inHullhad listened to the outcomes of the evaluation of Labour’s pilot here, a whole generation of children would have already benefited.

Labour believes that more can be done as we wait for the Coalition to deliver on their promises and would work towards reducing the cost of primary school meals still further. Labour also believes that the Coalition have let down thousands of children who attend academies and free schools by allowing these types of schools to provide any food they wish and not meet minimum health standards.

Labour Will:

Work pro-actively and innovatively with all our partners, such as the Care Commissioning Group through our Health and Wellbeing Board, to improve the health of Hull residents now and in the future.

Work with our partners on the Health and Wellbeing Board to reduce further the cost of school meals in Hull Primary Schools.

Promote Healthy Lifestyles by ensuring affordable, high quality and accountable leisure facilities that can be accessed as widely as possible.

Lobby the Coalition Government for greater funding for improved leisure facilities and work with partners to develop better and newer facilities despite Government cutbacks.

Support local sports teams and clubs to mentor and engage communities with fitness programmes.

Maintain free peak time bus travel in Hull and the region for pensioners and people with serious illnesses or disabilities.

Labour will deliver these commitments to benefit all sections of our community and to ensure a brighter, healthier future for the people of Hull.

EDUCATION

The previous Labour Government put a Children’s Centre or Surestart within walking distance of every community. The Tory-led Coalition Government have cut funding to these local services but locally Labour has worked hard to support them as best we can. PreviouslyHull’s Labour Council worked with the then Labour Government to secure £420m to revamp every secondary and special school inHull. The success of this Labour money, invested in our communities, is there to see and as educational standards continue to improve, our children will be better equipped to benefit from the growth in local jobs our other commitments will generate.

In 2011, Labour put funding back in to the City Music Service, which had been cut by the Lib Dems. This much-valued service continues to do excellent work with young people in the city.

Labour has also provided funding to reduce the cost of primary school meals, helping to support families and ensure children get a hot school meal, which will help them achieve and attain at school.

Labour Will:

Work to secure support for our children’s centres.

Use available funding wisely and innovatively to ensure the continuation of libraries and expand the services available from them such as Internet Access.

Lobby for greater funding from the Coalition Government and work with partners to secure the future of Libraries in Hull.

Continue to fund the City Music Service.

Continue to subsidise primary school meals and work to reduce the cost further, so children can access a hot school meal and families can be supported through the cost of living crisis forced on us by the Coalition Government.

Work with our partners to ensure the education package provided meets local and national needs.

Labour will work with our partners in education to ensure that our children’s education is high quality and meets the needs of people now and in the future.

YOUNG PEOPLE

Labour delivered a raft of measures to improve the lives of children, from lifting children out of poverty to providing Free Healthy Primary School Meals that resulted in direct health improvements, improvements in school attendance and educational attainment. The vision Labour had when it delivered free healthy school meals a decade ago has now become national government policy. Those in the Lib Dems who abolished our scheme here now support it being rolled out nationally, what a pity they could not have shown the same commitment to the people of Hull when they ended it here. A generation of children would already have reaped the benefits highlighted in the evaluation report of the scheme that the Lib Dems ignored and tried to suppress.

Since 2010, youth unemployment has blighted the country and young people’s lives. The response from the Tory-led Coalition has been to axe funding to support services, to local councils, to abolish the Education Maintenance Allowance; (EMA); that allowed thousands of young people engage with education and skills training and to treble university tuition fees – putting university beyond the reach of all but the wealthy.

In terms of apprenticeships, the Coalition has invested unwisely by creating a massive expansion of low quality qualifications that are not recognised anywhere else in the EU and not valued by many employers here either. While the Tories and the Lib Dems quote the ‘quantity’ of these schemes they fail to point out that 75% of them contain no recognisable training element at all, most are for only six months and most do not even go to school leavers but to existing employees in low paid work. The majority of people receiving these low quality courses are aged 25 or over.

This is the politics of ‘Never mind the quality, feel the width!”, and it is unacceptable and insulting. While young people from our EU neighbours can benefit from jobs growth across the EU, young people here are stuck in low paid, low skilled and insecure jobs thanks to an investment in low quality qualifications aimed at allowing politicians to claim credit for expanding apprenticeships. We can do better!

Young people deserve to be listened to and to receive high quality guidance, direction, help and support to reach their potential and to be involved in our society rather than just observers of it or hostile to it because they are excluded. This is why Labour, in 2011, restored funding to the local ‘Connexions’ careers advice service which the previous Lib Dem Cabinet has axed completely.We all have a responsibility in this as parents, teachers, and members of a community as do the young people themselves.

Labour Will:

oCall for real investment in high quality, Level 3 apprenticeships, which will equip our young people with the training, and skills they need to find and keep a quality job.

oInsist that businesses we procure services from also invest in high quality apprenticeships

oDevelop more apprenticeships within the Council and call upon local businesses to do the same.

oContinue to fund youth provision across the City from the voluntarysector, despite the huge Government cuts to our grant

oWork with our partners to make sure the council listens to young people when developing services and support.

Labour is delivering for young people, engaging young people and helping them reach their true potential.

OLDER PEOPLE

The previous Labour Government lifted many older people out of poverty with Pension Tax Credits and Winter Fuel Payments. Labour’s All Day Free Travel in Hull has helped older people to remain connected to friends and loved ones in the city and region especially as the ‘Cost of Living Crisis’ has meant less money for most people. Nationally this scheme is under threat and likely to disappear after the 2015 election if the Tories or the Coalition remain.

Labour Will:

Work to protect Winter Fuel Payments.

Work to maintain free peak time bus travel in Hull and the region for people aged over 60 and the chronically sick or disabled.

Work to retain a network of high quality locally accountable homes and day centres to ensure access to respite and care when needed, and not move any client from Council-ran residential care against their will (like the Lib-Dems did, shamefully, at Rokeby).

Continue to consult with the Better Government for Older People representatives and represents their views in Cabinet.

Labour has worked locally and nationally to lift older people out of poverty and improve lifestyles and opportunity and will continue to value the input of older people in our society.

ROADS AND PAVEMENTS

The previous Lib Dem Council spent £7 million of Flood Relief money given toHullby the then Labour Government on a failed ‘Transformation Programme’, which did not make any recognisable savings. They did not spend a penny on preventing flooding, something which re-visited us in December 2013. In addition, they had over £104m in Capital reserves yet our roads and pavements crumbled around us while they just pointed at potholes.

At the same time, they also failed to spend the allocated budget on road and pavement repairs. Given the state of our roads, this mismanagement is scandalous.

Since 2011, Labour has programmed our much-reduced budget to spend the available money on these essential repairs. The money allocated will be used in full, each year. The response from the Lib Dems has been to criticise the road repairs they should have been delivering when in power.

Labour will:-

Continue to plan effectively the delivery of road and pavement repairs within the allocated budget in full.

Lobby for increased funding to repair and maintain our roads and pavements.

Labour has a long and proud record of supporting sport and providing high quality leisure facilities in this city.

When Labour was in charge of the council, we built the KC Stadium, which helped springboardHullCity’s revival and is the home of a Premiership Football Club and a Super League Rugby League Team. The Lib Dems opposed this investment but, as usual, took the credit when it opened.

Labour also invested in developing both rugby league clubs inHull, helping them to secure their futures. Most recently, the Council funded a new stand atCravenPark, increasing capacity and quality.

Labour decided to bid for ‘City of Culture 2017’ following the failed bid by the previous Lib Dem led Council. This was part of the long-term vision held by Labour and was initially not supported by senior officers. The decision proved to be the right thing to do and galvanised the city to display its uniqueness, its current offer and the potential offer. By contrast, during the budget debate in February 2014, the Lib Dems proposed pulling essential funding from the plans for City ofCulturebecause they believed it was developing “too fast”.

Labour has also had to review leisure and cultural services because of the eye-watering cuts to council funding imposed by the Coalition Government, which will amount to over £100m by 2016. This review included looking at the future of the range of swimming provision across the city and led to the development of a partnership funding arrangement with the local NHS to maintain the pools at Ennerdale Leisure Centre. Such arrangements represent a short-term fix to a long-term and deep funding crisis caused by the decisions of the current Government. Labour will have to re-shape how these essential services are delivered while retaining local accountability. Labour will also look at delivering a modern, leisure facility that meets local need in Hulland provides high quality service into the 21st Century. This is an example of Labour’s commitment to not stand by and allow the ‘Managed decline of the city and its services’.

Labour will:

Continue to work with key partners locally, regionally and nationally to build for 2017 to maximise the economic status and cultural potential and legacy that UK City of Culture 2017 represents.

Labour will look towards innovative and effective ways to develop and deliver accountable leisure services for generations to come as part of a ‘KWL style’ Council wholly owned Company.

Labour will develop locally accountable services, accessible by and affordable to Hull residents.

Labour has delivered on maintaining and developing local services despite swingeing government cuts. Labour will continue to put the needs of local Hull people first.

COMMUNITY, ENVIRONMENT AND SAFETY

The time is right for a ‘grown-up debate’ about the boundary of the city, which excludes suburbs that are naturally conjoined to the city and who look to the city as their centre. It has been the case, for too long, that the Council Tax payers ofHullhave solely funded the commercial, retail, cultural, heritage and leisure offer, which is accessed and utilised by people from all over the East Riding. Hull City Council also contributes to developing jobs and services for local people, not just those who presently live within the restrictedHullboundary. The greater funding opportunities, that having a wider boundary presents is a benefit to everyone who lives and works in Hull and its suburbs and would allow for improved and more accountable local services.

The previous Lib Dem Council slashed funding to Park Rangers who do an invaluable job keeping parks clean, safe and open. Their cuts threatened the safety and security of our parks and resulted in some parks being locked and unavailable for public use. Labour reinstated funding and has maintained Park Rangers.

Likewise, in 2011, the Lib Dems axed £982,000 from Streetcare Services, which resulted in a third of the workforce leaving the Council. As a result, green areas suffered across the city. By the time Labour came to power in 2011, these workers had already gone and could not be replaced. This did not stop the Lib Dems trying to blame Labour when areas became overgrown.

The Lib Dems sided with the Tories on the Crime and Policing Panel in refusing funding for Police Officers. It is no coincidence thatHullnow has the lowest Policing levels since the 1980’s and for the first time in 10 years crime has risen in the city.

In 2011, the Lib Dems proposed to introduce fortnightly bin collections, Labour did not implement this in 2011 when we took control but we did reorganised how waste was collected and in 2013, along with improvements to recycling and diversion from landfill we then introduced fortnightly collections, which the Lib Dems opposed. Our changes saved money and have resulted in a rise in the amount of municipal waste diverted from landfill from 54% last year to 64% this year. In addition, recycling and composting levels have risen from 48% to 53%.

All of these things impact on our communities and general wellbeing and Labour has made a significant difference where we can and argued to defend community safety against Lib Dem and Tory attacks.

Labour Will:

Lobby for a sensible debate about widening the tight boundaries of the city for the benefit of everyone who accessed and enjoys the services of the city.

Work with our Labour partners in the Police and crime Panel to improve policing.

Continue to improve our waste collection, recycling and composting scores so that less goes to landfill, thereby saving money and protecting our environment now and for generations to come.

Your community is not safe with the Lib Dems, they sided with the Tories to reduce policing levels.

BUILDING OUR FUTURE

This Tory-led Coalition led us into a double-dip recession and narrowly avoided a triple-dip recession. Prior to 2010 the economy had actually started to recover but the rapid and deep austerity cuts of the Coalition killed off that early recovery and our economy flat-lined for over three years. The Tories and the Lib Dems would have us believe that the economy is now growing due to their measures. In reality, any economy will eventually start to grow again after a recession but their economic policies suppressed our economy for the longest period in history. They would have us believe that we are now better off. People inHulldo not see it that way.

InHull, the local economy was badly hit but in our case that started decades ago with the policies of the previous Tory Government, which destroyed the manufacturing base of the nation, sited primarily in the North and the fishing industry, sited primarily here and inGrimsby.

The actions of the previous Lib Dem Council by slashing £800,000 from the funding to help start up small and new businesses was just more of the same from a party which in Hull are no more than Tories in drag.

InHull, Labour has shown its’ commitment to attracting jobs and building a future in which people here will see hope. The decisions we made in 2011 and since would not have been made by anyone else. The Lib Dems have opposed virtually everything Labour has done. They even proposed to remove funding for the City of Culture 2017 and the Siemens development. This is a clear measure of why they are not fit to represent the people ofHull. They are a party of opposition and their record of accomplishment in power confirms that they must stay in opposition.

UKIP pretend to speak for ordinary working people but are made up of multi-millionaires who want a return to a ‘mythical golden age’ that only existed for the super rich. They hate Europe because Europe makes laws that protect people at work, people who are vulnerable and stops the worst excesses of the worst employers inEurope. There are many things that Labour would want to change regardingEurope, but membership of it is not one of them.

The EU is the largest trading market in the world, bigger even than theUSA. It benefits its members. UKIP would see us left to trade on our own, looking in through the window to see if we can spot a good deal or two for companies owned by rich men making the maximum profit by driving down wages and conditions to 1930’s levels. If UKIP got its’ way there would be no investment in the Green Renewables Sector, Britain would continue to stagger on, completely reliant on Russian gas and Middle East oil forever.

At the 2014 Local and European Elections voters have few choices. The Tories with endless austerity and policies for the rich and powerful, the Lib Dems with no direction, no integrity and no purpose, or UKIP, the Tories ‘B Team’, so right-wing that even most Tories don’t like them.

Or Labour, a party that has helped turn around the future of Hull, that is engaged with our neighbours both here and in Europe and which is determined to grow our economy, jobs, training and to look after people in a caring and responsible society. The choice is simple. Vote Labour in 2014.

Labour

Working for you to deliver on:-

Jobs and Growth

Housing Transport

Health Education

Young People Older People

Roads and Pavements Sport & Leisure

Community, Environment & Safety Building Our Future

ONLY LABOUR CAN DELIVER ON THESE PLEDGES!

Printed and promoted by Daren Hale, Deputy Leader Of the Labour Group, on behalf of all Hull Labour Party Candidates, all at: 216 Victoria Avenue, Hull.

Hull Labour has sought to remind that there are an important set of Council elections on May 22nd the same day as the European Elections. With control of Hull’s Guildhall up for grabs these local elections will have as big as impact on day to day lives in Hull as the Euro poll.

There are 21 vacancies with two seats in Marfleet following the death of our dear comrade Sheila Waudby. Just half are being contested with Cllrs with ten newcomers, four fighting their first election. The key point to remind voters is that UKIP opposes wind energy so does not agree with Siemens locating in Hull. On the other hand the Lib Dems have discredited themselves by putting the Tories in Government, enabling them to treble tuition fees for students and cutting funding to Hull City Council by £100m since 2010.

Labour Group Members on Hull City Council welcomed the news that Siemens have today confirmed their commitment to an offshore wind turbine factory in Hull.

When Labour regained control of the City Council in May 2011 one of the first decisions was to seek a Local Enterprise Partnership, (LEP), based upon the Humber Estuary to attract manufacturing industry back to the area. The previous Lib Dem Cabinet wanted a LEP based on tourism with Scarborough.

Labour’s decision in 2011 followed the previous Labour Government’s commitment to promote vigorously both the green renewable sector generally and the Humber Estuary itself as a key area in the UK for offshore turbine production. Both Gordon Brown and Peter Mandelson said this. Since that time Cllr Steve Bayes, the Council’s Cabinet, Councillors and Officers have worked tirelessly to deliver this project for Hull

The Siemens development will create 1,000 direct jobs with the potential to create 3,000 more indirect jobs too. It goes a long way towards creating the 7,500 additional jobs identified in Hull’s ‘City Plan’. The Labour Cabinet on Hull City Council committed £5m of Capital funding to help secure this development and this foresight and ambition has paid off.

Councillor Stephen Brady, Leader of Hull City Council said:

“This is really big news for this city and this region. It is great news for people here looking for secure, high quality employment now and in the future. I know many people have worked very hard for a long time to deliver this development and I would like to welcome this Siemens project to Hull.

“There is no doubt that our location in the UK was a huge bonus and I am clear that our membership of the EU’s single market made this investment easier as well. UKIP have opposed this development and oppose offshore wind farms as well. These jobs would not be coming here if UKIP got their way.

“There are other European companies who will now look to Hull and the Humber favourably because of this investment.”

Councillor Daren Hale, Deputy Leader added:-

“Coming on the back of the recent decision to award Hull ‘City of Culture 2017’ and the electrification of the rail line from Selby to Hull, this decision makes a bold statement that Hull is open for business. I expect there to be serious proposals for the development of Hull’s Fruit Market around Easter time as well. Labour said we would not stand by and manage economic decline but instead would plan to build jobs and opportunities for the city”.